


after this life, I'll find you in the next.

by melbopo



Series: SHAUM S2 to S3 Hiatus Prompts [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Chance Meetings, Elemental Magic, First Meetings, M/M, Potential minor read of Clace, Rebirth, Soulmates, Soulmates in Every Universe, Soulmates through different lifetimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-20 09:09:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12429594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melbopo/pseuds/melbopo
Summary: If it was any other night of the week, Alec would turn down Isabelle's request to spend a night at the most popular bar in town but she swears she's on the verge offinallymeeting her Soulmate after lifetimes without them and well, Alec has always had a soft spot when it comes to Soulmates as he's the only one out of his siblings to have found his in past lifetimes. Plus his Gift of memories is much better suited for the task at hand than her Gift of biological knowledge or Jace's Gift of weapon mastery and who knows, maybe tonight he'll find his Soulmate in this lifetime too.~~~~~for the sh au mondays prompt: time





	after this life, I'll find you in the next.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to [@taupefox59](http://taupefox59.tumblr.com/) on tumblr for beta'ing and reading through and letting me know if the world I had in my mind came across at all into my writing!! thank you so much - your input was v v helpful!
> 
> title is a lyric from finding you on kesha's latest (AMAZING) album, rainbow, and is v much a malec song!!
> 
> what. is world. building. see the end for some ~more explanations

[ ](https://mel-iorn.tumblr.com/post/166689221666/after-this-life-ill-find-you-in-the-next-a-3k)

The feeling of watchful eyes follows Alec’s retreating back as he weaves his path away from the overcrowded bar. The air already feels too hot and the lights too fluorescent for his taste, making him wish he declined his sister's request to spend the night out for the dozenth time since agreeing. It's not that Alec detests clubs or bars on principle, it's the loud atmosphere with a high density of people. Having to constantly pull back his Gift from cataloguing every fellow Being he physically contacts gives him a migraine and he's already had a minor headache all week due to the sudden temperature fluctuations from the energy storm hitting town.

The gaze is relentless, remaining on him even after crossing behind a pillar and out of the visual range of anyone by the bar. The intensity of it makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up but piques his interest away from his headache about what eye (or two) he caught the attention of. Though as Alec rounds the busy pool tables to a secluded back corner, the sight of his siblings allows him to push away that faint curiosity for they are the real reason Alec is even here.  

Finally back at the table, Alec raises an eyebrow and silent hand, palm up, to his brother who passes a small silver pipe to him. Alec grasps it eagerly, inhaling deeply as he sits down until he elicits a soft, high pitched whistle from the device. Alec holds his breath for a moment, savoring the feeling of the smoky air traveling through his lungs and into his veins before exhaling a glittery purple smoke, the room instantly feeling quieter and his headache receding to the dull ache it has had all week.

Alec's eyes quickly scan over the packed pool hall of mundanes and Being's alike, relieved that their names and faces can no longer flood him from this safe distance away. He focuses his attention on a Being of Ground whom he already knows in this life and that goes by the name Meliorn. Alec sharpens his gaze until a pale gold ring flares into color around his irises, allowing him to see past their current faery look and into the all faces they've had in other shared lifetimes. Pleased to still be able to call upon his Gift if he desires but not have it over power his senses, Alec pulls it back, the gold vanishing from his eyes as he finally lets his shoulders relax, settling into the chaos that he is sure is a regular occurrence for Saturday nights at Edom. He offers the metal pipe to his sister, Isabelle, who shakes her head back and forth before he passes it back to Jace.

"I want to be able to fully _see_ them when I find them," Isabelle explains, as if Alec needs the reminder of the reason he left his quiet, cozy apartment that night, why he agreed to come out even though he hasn't been feeling well all week.

Isabelle's white teeth bite on the bottom of her wine red lips as her dark eyes flicker from one face to the next, searching for that spark, that connection, that _something_. It's the more serious side of her that contrasts with the excitedly hopeful one Alec saw just hours previously when she appeared at his apartment door. The moment she announced that she felt the stirrings of something that might be her Soulmate, like they were suddenly physically closer than they've been in the many, many lifetimes since their last _almost_ meeting, Alec knew he’d agree to just about any demand that followed; hence the reason he's here.

Jace pockets the silver pipe with an indifferent shrug, present at the outing to show support for his sister but not necessarily as a believer in her feelings. Jace's never even _glimpsed_ his Soulmate in all of his lifetimes, enjoying to pass his lives with other Beings that have yet to discover their Soulmates too. Alec knows that there is a part of Jace that believes it's a cruel joke from the Makers, creating him for the sole purpose of being a weapon and never actually making a single Being in all of the universes and lifetimes that would balance him, endowed with skills that would compliment his Gift to make them both stronger, that would love him so deeply that it would transcend lifetimes and universes.

Alec also knows Jace would never admit that fear out loud but the more Soulmate-less lifetimes that pass, the greater the distance in their sibling bond becomes, with Jace growing more elusive and taking longer to find by Alec in each lifetime (it took twenty-five years in this one whereas Alec found Izzy on her twelfth birthday). Alec does understand the root cause of the rift: jealousy. He met his Soulmate within a dozen or so lifetimes of first entering the universes as Beings and he's found them every lifetime since. Of course, the timing isn't always right and they don't always have happy endings, but they do always find each other and their love for each other always grows in each lifetime.

“Well I’m going to see if tonight’s my lucky night too - worse case, I might just end up lucky.” Jace says with his usual air of cockiness, full faith in his ability to find someone to take to bed that night. He stands abruptly, not even bothering to hide the fact that he is already tired of their little waiting game. Izzy doesn't blink an eye at Jace's minimal patience, very aware of how unsettled he gets whenever a conversation lingers on Soulmates for  _too_ long.

Alec’s eyes follow Jace as he shoulders his way through the pool tables to get to the bar. A rich black and purple floral blazer cuts over Alec’s line of sight of Jace, the glint of sharp metal spikes that accent broad shoulders distracts Alec. He can’t help but admire the way the crowd parts around them, as aware as Alec is from even from across the room, of all the strength cloaked in the beautifully dangerous blazer of that Being. Well Alec is almost positive they are a Being, no mundane can put that much power in a motion as simple as walking and he is definitely intrigued. A brief thought that maybe he too will end up lucky tonight enters his mind but Izzy’s hesitant voice cuts through it immediately, “How do you know when you’ve found them?”

Alec looks over at Izzy, her eyes out of focus as she looks out over the room. “Our siblings like you and Jace?”

“No, your Soulmate.” Izzy’s expression brightens as she turns her head to make eye contact, full attention on Alec as she looks for answers to a timeless question that’s plagued her for lifetimes.

He shrugs under her attentive gaze, “It differs in every universe.” His own eyes losing focus as he plays through a series of first realizations over the numerous lifetimes. He offers his hand, palm up to her. She places her hand in his, closing her eyes the moment a charge goes from his palm to hers, very much like the static shock one experiences after walking across a carpet on a dry day and touches a metal doorknob.

Alec calls his Gift back to the surface again, the golden ring appearing in his eyes as he plays some of his memories of seeing his Soulmate for the first time in Izzy’s mind, specifically trying to to share ones that have strong feelings attached to them. He attempts to put that feeling into words, “I look into their eyes and things just feel different, like I’m being truly _seen_ for the first time… Often they don’t recognize me back but the first _first_ time we met in all of our lifetimes, we recognized the bond in each other immediately.” Alec can’t keep the fondness from his voice as he shares the intense emotions from a wedding stopping worthy memory: feeling so overwhelmed with the energy of his Soulmate that he lost his breath the moment he made eye contact with them at the end of the aisle as a guest to his own wedding (which he obviously didn’t follow through with).

Alec’s golden rimmed eyes dim, returning to their beautiful brown glory as he pulls back from his Gift, watching Izzy blink a couple of times as she comes back to the now. “Sometimes it’s just a feeling of being drawn to them, not necessarily feeling that _connection_ right away. You felt an energy tonight right?” Izzy nods her head. “Then follow that trail, look for whomever you think the source of that energy is that brought you out here tonight.”

Excitement shines in Izzy’s eyes as she smiles at Alec, “Thanks big brother.”

Alec rolls his eyes at her term of endearment. They are technically the same age, which is uncommon for Beings, created at the same time from the same breathe of air, but in this lifetime Alec was born first, something Izzy likes to remind him of constantly. She stands up from their table, looking out at the crowd with new determination when a commotion gives her pause. Suddenly an aggravated Jace parts through with a feisty redhead close behind him, demanding his attention, “What the hell are you talking about?”

Jace ignores them, stopping next to Izzy whose eyebrows are pulled down in confusion; a look Alec is sure his face mimics perfectly. Jace sounds equal parts annoyed and surprised, looking to Alec, “Who is she? I feel this… connection to her but she says she’s a mundane and doesn't have a Gift.”

Alec and Izzy share a quick look, both thinking the same thing in wake of their recent conversation: has Jace found his soulmate? Alec turns back to the redhead in question, offering his hand out to her, palm slightly turned up. “Can I have your hand?”

The corner of her lip turns up in clear aggravation about the whole situation. Her voice has a sneer as she says, “Name’s Clary - she/her” before putting her hand in Alec’s.

“Alec - he/him”, he tacks on, forgetting his manners in the wake of this disjointed interaction. He looks at Clary, the gold rim appearing in his eyes as he tries to see _past_ this lifetime and into previous ones where he may have met her but there’s nothing; it’s _empty._  A gold ring flares to life in response in her eyes though, confirming Jace’s statement about her being a Being, but most importantly, a Being like them - a Being of Air. A cold chill runs through Alec’s body and he pulls his hand away quickly, the gold in both of their eyes dimming fast. He clears his throat, trying to keep his discomfort to a visual minimum. “Obviously I can’t tell if she’s your Soulmate but… she is a fellow Being of Air, one I’ve never met before.”

Clary’s eyes widen, moisture building in them as if overloaded by the experience of having lived her life as a mundane when she had a Gift buried in her, of having an identity built on something she's not. Jace reaches for her shoulder to offer comfort but she pulls back just out of range. Alec’s attention jumps to a deeper voice that appears next to her, “Clary? Clary? Are you okay?”

Their energy is familiar, Alec squints for a moment trying to place if he’s met them in this lifetime already but when his Gift doesn’t activate, he offers his hand towards them. “Alec - he/him.”

The person looks annoyed at first to have their attention diverted from Clary, not moving until she gives a simple nods towards Alec’s hand. They stand up to their full imposing height as they take Alec’s hand firmly, “Luke - he/him.”

Alec’s eyes light up gold as he looks into Luke’s, their surroundings fade away to Alec as he becomes immersed in their memories from different lifetimes past. A smile comes to Alec’s lips as he releases his grip on Luke’s hand, though surprised to see Luke’s eyes glowing alpha werewolf green from their exchange. “Always a pleasure to see you just not usually as a Shifter…”

There is a matching smile on Luke’s mouth from this exchange of their memories that allows him to recognize Alec. Luke rolls his eyes at Alec’s last comment, “I know, tell me about it.”

A cryptic comment, hinting at elements out of Luke’s own control, that definitely stirs Alec’s curiosity about exactly what happened or deal was made to cause a Maker of Air to become a Being of Water. For usually those sorts of deals are only granted by a Maker of Ground and come with a fairly hefty price.

“Wait you know them? Do you know what they’re talking about? About me being one of them? Have you known this whole time that I’m not a mundane?” The hurt rings clear in Clary’s voice as she looks from Alec to Luke. Luke opens his mouth to respond but Clary puts one hand up to stop him, clearly drowning with this new information with the feeling of her foundation falling away. She shakes her head back and forth, her gaze dropping the floor as the implications of this discovery come to her all at once. Her voice is firmer as she says, “I gotta find Simon” before turning on the spot and disappearing back through the crowd towards the bar exit. Alec doesn’t even try to stop Jace from going after her, knowing first hand of Jace’s stubborn streak but unable to fathom its mixture with the protectiveness for whatever connection he feels to her.

“I’ve known her her whole life... I didn’t know she was a Being.” Luke remarks in a quiet voice as if his whole life is shifting too and he’s trying to process how this newness fits in with his view, with his world. His voice is a sharp contrast to his confident stance, hands on his hips and shoulders drawn back, an ability he has possessed in every shared lifetime that Alec's known.

“She could be a Maker, hiding her true self.” Alec shares his earlier fear after a moment’s hesitation, recognizing that he is talking to one of the former Makers themselves. Very little good tends to come from a Maker re-entering the universe, destruction and war often follow in their wake; sometimes the hardship even transcends universes.

Luke shakes his head, eyes still on the direction that Clary left. “No, I _know_ Clary, I helped raise her -she’s my daughter. And I would have known if I was raising a Maker.” He looks back at Alec, who just raises an eyebrow and shrugs one shoulder in a way that best encompasses his belief in Luke’s lack of evidence but Luke stands firm in his conviction, “I’ll talk to her.”

“Is everything alright Lucian? You know, I hate starting a fight in my establishments but I do love finishing one.” Calls a coy voice from the pool table closest to them, the threat clear as day in their tone.

Luke turns his body to reply, making space for the stranger to join their semi formed circle and conversation, “Thanks but we’re fine Magnus, he’s a Being of Air that I know actually. Alec, this is Magnus Bane, he owns Edom these days .”

Alec’s eyes trail up the stranger as he pushes off from the pool table he was leaning against to walk towards them, taking in the dark washed pants and deep slitted shirt under the rich black and purple floral blazer with metal spikes Alec admired earlier. The moment they make eye contact, the headache that tormented Alec all week immediately melts into a vibration that starts at his head and extends out to his toes, alighting his whole body with a deep sense of calm in its wake. That new feeling combined with the sight of all that beauty and power causes Alec's breath to catch in his throat. Time slows down to just this moment between the two of them, the background noise of the bar diminishing to a silence so pure that all Alec can hear is the uptick of his heartbeat and the stirring of his Gift recognizing his Soulmate anywhere, any time, any universe, practically singing as he takes _Magnus_ in.

“Good.“ Magnus says with mischief in his smile. And by the Makers, it’s a look that suits him so well. “Because I’ve been wanting to challenge Alec here to a game of pool all night.” Magnus raises a single eyebrow as he takes a sip of his martini, maintaining eye contact as he snaps his fingers while twisting his wrist, calling upon his Gift as a Being of Fire to materialize a pool stick in his free hand as his eyes flicker golden yellow. “You look like someone that enjoys a good challenge. What do you say pretty boy?”

At the sight of Magnus’s eyes, a smug smile stretches across Alec’s lips. His voice breathy as he confesses, “Universes where you have your cat eyes are my favorite.”

Alec watches confusion ripple through Magnus’s confident, flirty expression. Even though Alec shared too much, caught up in the flood of memories of their deepest connections sparked from those golden yellow eyes, Magnus looks the opposite of scared away, rather further intrigued with a small smile on his lips. Confirmation it was his eyes that trailed Alec earlier in the night and further reason why his eyes were drawn to Magnus’s blazer.

Alec opens his mouth to explain himself but Izzy cuts him off, voice sharp with fear, “No!” before he feels her hand on his arm, pulling him towards the exit. Alec knows where that fear stems from; she remembers from his shared memories of past lives all the pain and darkness that tends to follow those cat eyes. For cat eyes equate to power and no matter the universe, people always want a taste of it.

Though, Alec can’t help but think that maybe in this universe things will be different. He flashes a warm smile as he follows his sister out, “I’m sure I’ll see you again Magnus Bane.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me and this graphic on tumblr [here](https://maiababerts.tumblr.com/post/166689221666/after-this-life-ill-find-you-in-the-next-a-3k)!
> 
> I lowkey had a bigger plot planned around this world/fic but fantasy world building is HARD for me (this was my first time ever! so biggest of kudos to ppl that do this ?? ) and I got caught up in all the little details. Maybe one day I'll add to this if yall like it and are curious bout whats going down?? as always, i'd love to hear what you think (about the world! the art! if it made sense! how much you hate soulmate aus! whatevs) either in the comments or on [tumblr @maiababerts](https://maiababerts.tumblr.com/post/166689221666/after-this-life-ill-find-you-in-the-next-a-3k)!
> 
> Thanks so so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed my take on "soulmates in every universe" as much I enjoyed writing it!!
> 
> Quick Explanation that isn't REALLY important cause you already read it but incase you were curious:  
> Mundanes have bits of an element in them but not enough for their entity/soul/aura to be attached and seen by Alec's Gift  
> Beings are of the four elements (air, fire, earth, water - s/o to atla&lok). Beings have Gifts that correlate to their element but their power/range of abilities depends on the universe. A Being is reborn in the same element unless a deal is made with a Maker.  
> -Beings of Air have knowledge based Gifts (seers almost)  
> -Beings of Fire have energy based Gifts (warlocks/witches)  
> -Beings of Earth have fae based gifts (fairies/sprites)  
> -Beings of Water have shifter based gifts (werewolves/vampires)  
> Beings are made by Makers of that same element. Makers can choose to live through the universes/lifetimes or not.  
> Beings/Makers have at least one Soulmate that are not necessarily romantic (some are platonic in some universes but romantic in others or always platonic or always romantic) that is the same Being/Maker reborn in each lifetime/universe. Once a Being/Maker finds their Soulmate in a lifetime, the likelihood of them finding them again in subsequent lifetimes increases.


End file.
